Simon Dedrick was the third mate on the Barataria ship, captained by Markus Rohde, that was used to transport Karl Rask's weapons. At some point while he was at sea, an accomplice of Osman Xasan Muhamad named Bassar broke into Dedrick's home in Pretoria and kidnapped his wife Elaine and daughter Karla. Osman then contacted Dedrick and extorted him into helping a group of Somali pirates board the ship in exchange for his family's safety.